Landis Cylindrical Grinder ?'s

[JohnnyJohnsoninWI]

Can someone please give me an education on Landis universal cylindrical grinders?

What is the difference between the type 1R and 2R? Is it just the size range or are there different features?

What should I look for in terms of evaluating condition of a cylindrical grinder prior to buying it?

What tooling or accessories are vital for use with these machines? In other words, assuming I purchased a bare bones machine, what else do I need and how hard or expensive are the accessories to obtain?

If you have experience with both Landis and Cincinnati cylindrical grinders, which did you prefer to use and why?

I have an opportunity to pick up either a Landis type 2R, 10x24, cnc w/fagor 8020 controler (retrofit), sn 790-22; or a manual Landis type 2R, 14x36, sn 856-25, possibly both at a very good price. They have chucks, but not much else in terms of tooling. Do you have any idea what these machines might be worth? I also know of a similar size Cincinnati in my local which will be coming up for sale soon.

Thanks for your help.

John

 

[JohnnyJohnsoninWI]

My post flew off the front page pretty fast, so I thought I'd bring it back up. Maybe some crotchety old grinder guy is scanning the forum this evening.

Thanks,
John

 

[dirty old man]

John, I ran a Landis once in a while at Northwest Airlines shop in Atlanta til the bean counters closed the doors and moved the work to MSP, Mn and to farm outs. then I retired.
That Landis was a fine machine, not sure of model, but it was quite long between centers, also had an internal grinding quill you could swing down for internal grinding. It was adjustable 7 ways from Sunday, as they say!
We mostly ground hard chrome on shaft OD build up, and the old gal held .0002 tolerances very well.
As for tooling, we had 3 and 4 jaw chucks and a big permanent magnet face plate, various centers, etc. I enjoyed running it, and alternated between it and a Bryant ID grinder.
Dave

 

[the unidentified man]

hello. bear with me as i peck my answer. landis grinders are more heavier duty as the number gets higher R1 ,light but smoother & easier to run. I have A 14X36 3R . For grinding heavy parts ,it works great .This machine is #10,000 ,and is harder to make small quick moves.In my opinion a 14X36 Landis 2R is the most ideal grinder for tool work.

 

[Machinery_E]

John, I have a 2R 14X36, very closly related to the one your looking at, the serial number on it is 856-46. Mine was built in 1976 for Pratt & Whitney for general purpose grinding, so the one your looking at should be of similar vintage.

Tooling-make sure you can get as much as you can, I have owned this puppy for several years, and searching ebay, I have only found wheel adapters, and they were the wrong taper for the spindle.

I got a bunch of tooling from a Cincinnati, and have been adapting it to the Landis. Mine has the A-5 taper, and the Cincy had a A-6.

The "must have" is the ID attachment-mine was orginally equipped with it, but unfortunately, I did not get it. I have built an adapter, and have a Precise spindle on it for ID work.

Of course it depends on what you want to do, but for in between center work, you don't need too much machine specific tooling, just the dog driver.

Center rest, steady rests, diamond holder, etc. are all nice to have. Again, very hard to find. (At least for me.)

Machine condition? I have did a ton of work on mine-the main thing is too see what kind of shape its in-check the out the ways on it, spindle, work head, etc. See if it has oil in it, on my machine, you can't run it till it has oil pressure.

When I contacted Landis about my grinder, they seemed to know what they were talking about, they know all about it and its history and were kind of enough to tell me about. One warning, though, parts I think are expensive.

Price? Depends on the situation. There was a really nice 1R that was at a school auction I went to pretty much everything was a giveway, except it, they went wild over it, and in hindsight it was still a bargain.

I love my Landis, its a great machine, Landis is to a cylindrical grinder, as a Bridgeport is to a vertical turret miller.

Hope this gives you some answers, let me know if you have any other questions.

Eric

Picture of a project I ground on the Landis.

The Landis itself. (Old picture!)

 

[JohnnyJohnsoninWI]

Well, now we know who all the crotchety old grinder guys on this forum are.

Seriously, thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with me. I'm happy to learn that Landis machines are so highly thought of. I'm thinking real hard about getting one, but the kicker is that I really won't know what condition it is in until I get it home and put power to it. Both are disconnected, sitting in storage right now.

Oh yes, Welcome to the forum Unidentified Man. I suspect you've been lurking for a while and I really appreciate you chiming in as well as your private message.

Thanks again,
John

 

[Machinery_E]

John, I bought mine as a non runner, (not under power) and sight unseen! (except for pictures) From of all places, a computer junkyard! I did not go to pick it up, from what I hear that place was really something.

So, not being under power might be in your favor to get a better price.

If you have pictures of the machines, send them to me, and I can let you know my thoughts.

Also, if you get one I'd be glad to help you out-I have a pile of neat stuff on the Landis grinders, including the original manual for the 2R, schematics, tech. books, etc.

the unidentified man, Welcome to the forum!

Glad to hear there's another Landis R series owner here, I thought I was the only one. Now if John buys one, that will make 3!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JohnnyJohnsoninWI]

Machinery_E,
Thanks a lot for the offer. I may very well take you up on it.

By the way, I very nearly busted you as Mike Kandu, incognito. I was browsing eBay, trying to learn more about Landis grinders and MK has one listed that is one serial number earlier than yours. I had to double check to make sure, it's 856-45. I bet it makes you feel good to know your grinder is worth $24,500.

Take care,
John

 

[Machinery_E]

Yes, Landis said that Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, Middletown, CT ordered two of them-45 and 46 at the same time, believe the drawings have the serial number of both of them on them. Just have to wonder, mine must have traveled all over the country while 45 must have been in its happy home in Middletown all the while.

MK has had 45 on ebay for a pretty long time, believe it popped up just after mine was bought,and I couldn't believe it was its twin!

Pricewise, what I paid for mine was a "little" cheaper than MK's twin.

Eric

 

[Jaxian]

I just had to resurrect this thread for humor sake. I am looking at a Landis grinder in my area and was looking for information.

So the funny part. They mention Mike Kandu has had one on eBay for a long time (This thread is from TEN years ago) but was asking $24,500 for it so they thought that was a bit high. They give the serial number in post #8.

Holy #$@!! the same one is still for sale from him, same serial number TEN years later. The only difference is the price is up to $35,000. I mean heck, if it doesn't sell for $10k less why not up the price. Seriously how can this guy stay in business? This machine must have been up for sale for nearly 15 years. Just insane.

Landis 2R Univeral Cylindrical Grinder Inv 3152 | eBay

 

[littlesolidkick]

Sorry to be a plunger... Always bringing up old stuff. But thought this might bring some laughs.

I own a 4h grinder from the "War Finish" era. Was looking for some info on it and found this tread.

6 years later... Still no change but the price.

Landis 2R Univeral Cylindrical Grinder (Inv.3152) | eBay